This article initially incorrectly referred to "patients with autism" rather than "autistics".

The wording change was suggested by myself on submission, in line with the policy of PLoS ONE that "potentially stigmatizing labels should be changed to more current, acceptable terminology". After discussing this with the authors, it is clear that either "person with autism" or "autistic" can be acceptable among researchers and the community - and the choice of wording should have been the authors'.

This suggestion should have been discussed with the authors, but instead the wording was changed during the production process without consulting them. We are aiming to ensure that such changes are not made again without consulting the authors.

We corrected this error as soon as we were made aware of it. PLoS ONE did not intend to make such changes without asking the authors, and I sincerely apologise for the distress caused to the authors and for the brief unavailability of this article.

Matt Hodgkinson
Associate Editor
PLoS ONE